As Christmas break comes to an end for myself, I think back to what I did over break in my tiny little town and what I missed about living in a big city like Manhattan, Kansas.
To give you a bit of background, I come from a small town in eastern Kansas. When I say small, I mean SMALL: a town that has the population of around 600 ON A GOOD DAY. So Manhattan, KS is the biggest town that I have ever lived in.
Fun fact: I had a professor who was shocked to know that MHK was the biggest town I had lived in, he then proceeded to pat my back and "welcome me to the big city."
My Christmas break was longer than the average college student. I only had one final during finals week AND it was on the Monday of finals week (blessed). So being a college student that was tired of living in town and relieved of my semester's stress I "peaced out" MHK and headed home.
But being home for six whole weeks has made me realize how nice it is to come home to such a quiet small town. I enjoyed so much of just going to the grocery store with my mom or heading to the bank, really I did.
As I got to thinking I realized how annoyed or stressed I got with those minor duties when in a bigger city. Truly, a small town is peaceful and easy to get around in--basically because we only have like 10 roads in the entire town. And if there is traffic, it's because someone is driving their tractor down Main Street.
But also because when I went to those places, I saw people I knew and have known for my entire life. It was great to get to reconnect with people I hadn't seen for a while and catch up on lost times.
Being home on a rural county road that had little traffic when compared to a busy city street, I've been sleeping like a baby, no joke. No sirens, no loud cars, nothing but the cows bawling in the pasture. But, I have also come to realize how accustomed I had become to having stuff so close to home.
My county is extremely rural; we have more cattle than we have people. Fun fact: the population of my county is a third of K-State's student population. We don't even have a stoplight IN THE ENTIRE COUNTY.
The only chain businesses we have in my county are Casey's General Store (only three of them, but it's the best pizza place by far) and Dollar General.
The Dollar General in my hometown just opened, so by definition, we are on "the up and up" and getting very "hoity-toity."
But when it comes to living in a rural county it can become extremely boring when you are used to living in a city. For example, the other night I was craving Taco Bell; this is a usual occurrence when considering that I am always hungry. If I was still in Manhattan I would have walked down the hall, asked a friend to go, and driven the roughly three miles round trip to get tacos.
But, I was at home, so that meant I would have driven 30 miles one way to get my tacos, which isn't a great option in the dark of the countryside because the deer are moving and hitting one with my car doesn't sound like a fun addition to a taco run.
Don't get me wrong, I love my hometown. Knowing EVERYONE and their relatives and where they live and where their grandparents live, etc. But after having lived in a city with endless possibilities and new activities at my fingertips, it gets a little hard to adjust for a month and a half break.
So yes, I cannot wait to get back to Manhattan where all of my friends are within a five-minute drive of each other instead of states away. Where I can go get tacos at 1:30 in the morning and have someone to jam in the car with me. Where a run to Wal-Mart takes only 30 minutes altogether, instead of 30 minutes just to get there. Not to mention, in cities, you can have stuff (food mainly) delivered!!!!
But yes, I am also sad to leave home, where my family and all my animals are, where peace and quiet are a daily thing. Where driving down the road you wave at every single car, whether you know them or not, because everyone is friendly.
So yes, be excited to return to college for the spring semester and go back to all of the things you were missing. But also remember where you come from and don't take it for granted. I know my upbringing in a tiny little town sounds like a nightmare to some, but to me, it was perfect and I can't wait until the next time I go home.